Artist
Barry W Hughes
Born in Dublin, Ireland, and resident in the UK, photographer, writer and editor Barry W Hughes' photographic works have been published and exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions in Ireland, Germany and China.
After establishing Ireland’s pioneering online photography magazine SMBHmag in 2009, Hughes has been a contributing writer to HOTSHOE since 2012, interviewing some of the most respected and exciting names in contemporary photography. He has also written for international publications such as British Journal of Photography, GRANTA and Photo-Eye.
Hughes has curated exhibitions, reviewed portfolios and delivered talks for the likes of Photo London; University of Middlesex; The Photographers' Gallery; Belfast Exposed; Sirius Arts Centre; Photology (Photo Hastings); PhotoIreland Festival; Belfast Photo Festival; Format Photo Festival and Look Photo Festival.
He has delivered lectures for University of Westminster; Coventry School of Art & Design; Kingston University; University for the Creative Arts Farnham and Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology; he has twice been a nominator for British Journal of Photography’s annual ‘Ones to Watch’ issue, and has twice adjudicated the international Photogrvphy Grant.
Visitations
Began in 2016, this project comprises found photographs collected from Portugal and the United Kingdom alongside original images taken in the UK. The found photographs date between the 1940s to the 1970s and appear to have been taken in a multitude of countries including Portugal, Italy, Germany, Greece and various unknown locations in the UK, South America and North Africa.
Continuing on from previous projects such as UFO (2013), and NEOP (2013 – ongoing), I have employed a number of visual techniques to create images that allude to or depict first-hand and reported UFO sightings and landings.
VISITATIONS uses real testimony from genuine reports of UFO sightings and landings collected from sources such as the United States Air Force’s Project Blue Book (1952 – 1970) as research to establish a narrative similar to that of a science-fiction novel or film.
The story follows a character who disappears in mysterious circumstances while investigating a UFO sighting. His sister then assists an investigator who follows a series of further sightings from Europe to South America to eventually disappear himself upon discovering a secret government installation in the jungle.
Supported by genuine copies of US intelligence documents suggesting UFO sightings be used for psychological warfare, the narrative implies nothing is as it seems. Currently, the project is still in development and there are still a number of avenues to explore regarding story-telling, editing, and the possibility of adding further found photographs to the project from other locations.